Chapter 110 - Episode 26: "Well Then, Good Day to You!"
I am Violia! This is a disaster! To think that the Pin-Hane Girl (T/N: 'Pin-hane' refers to skimming or taking a kickback from a payment.) has actually escaped!
No matter if she was facing execution the next day, to think that the Pin-Hane Girl would actually escape... I am truly surprised!
...Until now, I thought I was able to escape because my jailbreak skills were high... but could it be that this country's incarceration skills are simply low...?
Even so, it was unexpected. To think that the Pin-Hane Girl had the spirit and physical strength to escape, I am truly surprised!
Well, unlike my time, she wasn't thrown into a rock-solid prison, but was under house arrest in a VIP cell, so escaping must have been incomparably easier. Even so, I am surprised.
"Escaped? How on earth..."
"P-probably from the window. She escaped from the window. To think she would pass through those iron bars..."
Unfortunately, I have never been in this castle's VIP cell, so I do not know the structure, but originally, a VIP cell is a place to keep people of high status who would not do something as unseemly as escaping from a window... so it may have been built loosely regarding escape from the window.
...No, but... no matter how you think about it, it is impossible!
The VIP cell is surely on the 5th floor. To escape from the window there, one must descend the wall by using a rope or something.
Even if she could somehow manage to procure a rope using bedding or clothes, there is no way the Pin-Hane Girl could perform the feat of descending a height of five floors by rope! Descending a wall by rope uses quite a bit of muscle!
Which means...
...I exchanged a glance with Carol, and Carol nodded and spoke in my place.
"...Will you tell us the truth soon? if you tell us the truth, the Holy Knight and I might be able to help search for Amavire-san."
After questioning the Minister, the agitated Minister told us various things.
First, as expected, the Pin-Hane Girl did not escape from the VIP cell, but during her final bath on the night before the execution.
Even if it is the end for a prisoner, she was a prisoner kept in a VIP cell. If she had been quiet all along and requested a bath as her final whim, it would have been granted. Or, if she held one or two of the King's weaknesses somewhere... ah, the fact that he was preparing for war was a weakness, wasn't it...
Well, having successfully been taken to the bathhouse... naturally, she would be away from the soldiers' eyes there. Since most of the soldiers are men, they cannot enter the women's bathhouse.
Of course, there must have been a female guard... but she likely seized a gap somewhere and escaped. That must be it.
Which means... could it be that the Pin-Hane Girl is currently escaping while completely naked? That would be amusing in its own way... but well, that small fry wouldn't have that kind of nerve...
...Yes. I have already formed an idea.
Under the pretext of being a Holy Knight cooperating with the Royal Castle's soldiers, I began searching for the Pin-Hane Girl.
"You have no hesitation at all."
"Yes. I have an idea of where she is."
The place I am running to with Doran is toward the back alleys behind the Royal Castle.
...Knowing the Pin-Hane Girl, she shouldn't be able to escape while completely naked.
And in the first place, if she was able to escape from the bathhouse, I can only think that she passed through the servants' entrance that leads to the bathhouse management room for putting hot water into the bath.
That is a room for servants to boil water and such, but well, since it is warm there, it is just the right room for servants to hang their laundry.
Likely, the Pin-Hane Girl stole a set of clothes there and escaped just like that by pretending to be a servant.
In that case, the gate the Pin-Hane Girl used to get outside the castle would inevitably be the castle's back gate. The gate used by servants.
...If it were me, I would escape toward a place with more foot traffic the moment I left the gate. Even at night, there are a fair amount of people on the Royal Capital's main street, so it is perfect for hiding.
But, the Pin-Hane Girl would surely not think that way.
If she is a coward who only thinks about running and hiding... she will escape toward places with fewer and fewer people. Yes. She is surely familiar with the lower town and back alleys. She is a commoner, after all.
While the castle's soldiers are coming and going in a menacing manner, Doran and I head straight, straight ahead.
...Toward the trash can at the dead end of a back alley.
"Gokigenyou."
When I opened the lid of the trash can... as expected.
There was the Pin-Hane Girl, hiding perfectly inside the trash can.
Before the Pin-Hane Girl, who was frozen and unmoving, just staring up at us, I first put my index finger in front of my helmet.
"Oh, do not raise your voice. The Royal Family's soldiers will notice you."
The Pin-Hane Girl didn't seem to understand the meaning of these words for a while... but seeing me gently close the lid of the trash can when the sound of soldiers' footsteps could be heard, she seems to have understood that some leeway has been born for her.
She might be mistakenly thinking it is 'salvation' rather than 'leeway,' but that doesn't matter.
"I would like to talk with you for a bit. Could I have some of your time?"
I shall be satisfied as long as I can talk with this person.
Since it is a dead-end alley, I don't think soldiers will come to look very often, but just in case, I have Doran stand guard at the entrance of the alley.
And then, I talk with the Pin-Hane Girl inside the trash can.
...Now then.
"Why did you escape? Was the execution unpleasant?"
When I started off a bit strong from the beginning, the Pin-Hane Girl looked blank for a moment and then even showed a bit of irritation.
"Of course it is! I-in the first place, isn't it true that no one wants to die?"
"Oh, your intentions have nothing to do with it. However, do you not think that a criminal should die? Or is your thinking different?"
The Pin-Hane Girl has a face that says 'what are you talking about,' but this is important.
"Did you not also laugh in the past when you saw someone else commit a crime and be subjected to a public execution? Or is it the logic that it is fine if it is someone else but bad if it is yourself? Of course, I do not mind if that is the case."
"Th-that's, it's a good thing when a bad person dies, isn't it! Even though I'm innocent, for me to suffer like this, it's strange!"
...If this person had said something wonderful and properly selfish like 'it's fine if others die but I hate it if I die,' I would have respected her a little.
But in the end, she is only at this level.
"In other words, you are a good person? Fufu, you say such funny things. After acting so villainous, it is a bit late to claim innocence, is it not?"
"Wh-what are you talking about, for a while now! Saying it like I'm a terrible person...! Who on earth are you!? What right do you have to say such things!?"
"Oh. I will not let you say you have forgotten."
I took off my helmet and stood grandly before the Pin-Hane Girl.
"Gokigenyou. It is Violia Nico Fortesia, the one 'you were conspiring with.'"
"Wh... why are you here!?"
Oh dear, she was quite surprised. But it is a bit troublesome to have her be surprised inside a trash can.
"Oh. I have been around here all along. We met during the Saint voting, did we not? At that time, you were also doing something very interesting."
"H-how cruel... why do you say such things...? Even during the voting, you did such terrible things to me... why do you do such things!?"
"Well, I also move for the sake of enjoyment to some extent. And... it was because you were in just the right place at just the right time. But, it was because it was you that I utilized you and enjoyed myself in the process. I would not have done that if it were not you. Well, just think of it as self-inflicted."
"Self-inflicted!?"
When I answered her questions properly, the Pin-Hane Girl finally stood up inside the trash can. But since she hasn't come out of the trash can, she looks like she's wearing a novel kind of skirt.
"A-anyway, isn't it all your fault that I'm suffering like this!? I didn't do anything bad! You're just doing bad things on your own! And yet for me, for me to be executed, it's strange!"
"Well, that is true. Yes. What you say is 'correct.' Most of your charges are indeed false. It is certainly strange for it to go as far as execution."
I smiled brightly and said that... and then, I made a proposal to the Pin-Hane Girl.
"Therefore, I shall let it slide that you reported me and sold me out to the Royal Family. That was a 'correct' thing to do, was it not? And... yes. I do not mind helping you."
"Eh?"
The Pin-Hane Girl looked at me in a daze. After turning my words over in her head a few times, she must have understood the meaning. Hope appeared on her face.
"Y-you'll help me!?"
"Yes. I do not mind. Of course, I shall take what is to be taken."
When I said that, the Pin-Hane Girl braced herself a bit, but she nodded obediently. Being obedient is a good thing.
But in this case, it is foolish.
"Let's see. Right here... yes, five gold coins will be sufficient. Was that about the amount I 'lent' to you? We shall settle with that."
"...Eh?"
"Oh, do you not remember? You skimmed (pin-haned) from my request completion reward and put it in your own pocket, did you not? If you made it so that I was a Rank 4 adventurer, you could skim the difference from Rank 2."
When I said that, the Pin-Hane Girl seemed to remember. What she had done to me.
"Only those who are pure and honest can claim correctness. Once you have stained your hands with evil yourself, you are already a villain. In that case, you either fall completely and become a great villain to have your way in the world by force, or you become a half-hearted small fry and continue to hide or die in a ditch. It is one or the other."
"Th... that's..."
"Oh, do you wish to say it has nothing to do with you? Even so, you are naive. I am a villain, you know? A villain is a villain because they break the rules. Why should I have any obligation to follow your rules? There is no way I would help someone who skimmed (pin-haned) from me without any money."
As I pressed her, the Pin-Hane Girl lost her posture and fell back into the trash can, yet she trembled and desperately raised her voice.
"B-but, there's no way I have that kind of money! I, I just got out of prison..."
"That is true. I, who was skimmed by you at that time, had also just gotten out of prison."
I will not say the conditions were the same. Likely, the Pin-Hane Girl's conditions were better at the time of her escape.
...Yes. The only difference was the person's ability. And, whether they could take actions appropriate for their station without misjudging their own ability.
"If you cannot pay, this is as far as it goes. Well then, gokigenyou."
"W-wait! Wait!"
Listening to the Pin-Hane Girl's wailing, I left the dead-end alley.
After that, having quickly taken off my armor and fled, I quietly watched as the soldiers rushed toward the dead-end alley where the wailing was coming from... and afterward, I also witnessed the Pin-Hane Girl, who continued to wail in a deranged manner, being led away.
With this, tomorrow's public execution seems likely to end without a hitch!